HollywoodNews.com: This time, it’s the best of the best. Of course ‘best’ is a subjective term, so you might want to consider these my ‘favorites’. Despite what everyone likes to whine about at the end of every year, 2011 was in fact one of the better years in a good long time. Maybe it was the effects of the 2007 WGA strike wearing off, maybe it was just dumb luck, but on the whole, movies, especially mainstream movies, were pretty on-spot more often than they weren’t. But just as important, most of the year-end Oscar bait was actually quite good, so this is a year where I don’t have to half-heartedly apologize for having a list filled with movies nobody saw and mainstream pictures that no one admits to liking. Even if it took 1/3 of the year to really get cooking, 2011 was an uncommonly solid
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Thoughts by Tsr: The first time Sacha Baron Cohen and Larry Charles teamed up they delivered the outrageously funny Borat. Next they came together for Brüno, a film I liked, but certainly not one that reached the highs of their previous effort. So when I heard they would be teaming up again in a comedy that would have Sacha Baron Cohen playing an insane dictator, naturally I was excited. That’s why it hurts so much to say that I did not enjoy most of this trailer for The Dictator.

I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting, but this certainly wasn’t it. To me, this almost feels like a character that Adam Sandler would play. Even more disheartening is that it reminds me
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We start the Top 7. You finish the Top 10. Or in this case, I give you 14 films.

Two themes seemed to keep popping up in 2011; nostalgia and forgetting. The forgetting specifically came in the form of Alzheimer’s disease. Friends with Benefits, A Separation, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Descendants, and 50/50 all had a key character with Alzheimer’s. On the flip side, nostalgia seemed central to many films. The Artist is an homage to silent films, while Hugo pays tribute as well. The Muppets and Winnie the Pooh told stories that could have existed when those timeless characters were first created (tapping in to our nostalgia). Young Adult exists because of high school nostalgia. Super 8 is the nostalgia of Steven Spielberg through the eyes of J.J. Abrams. Midnight in Paris is most-definitely an obvious nostalgia for Paris in the 1920s.

hollywoodnews.com: Why do kids have a hard time breaking through at the Oscars?

It’s an interesting question, and one that is dissected over at Gold Derby this morning, where they point out that multiple Oscar-worthy performances from underage talents could be overlooked this season if the Academy’s tendencies disrupt the momentum of select campaigns.

hollywoodnews.com: You hear this complaint almost every year: “This was a terrible year for film.” It’s often made by moviegoers who didn’t go out of their way to find unconventional, challenging (and frequently rewarding) cinema.

A simple scan of the films we’ve included in our annual Top 10 list – as well as the 10 follow up titles – will tell you that there were plenty of films worth celebrating in 2011 … and there will be even more coming next year.

But before we jump ahead, with the New Year arriving in a few days, let’s run through the best films we managed to see in 2011. We expect our coverage for most of these movies to extend into January and February as the Oscar race continues. But for now, these are the movies that moved us most. If we missed any, let us know in our comments section:

End-of-year list-making is typically a daunting, tricky, and arbitrary task. At its best, it's a way to express ideas and share interesting finds. At its worst, it's a shouting match about Why Didn't You Pick The Exact Films I Like?
In 2011, I probably saw around 70-80 new release films in theaters. I'm certain that these films are different than the ones you saw and I'm equally certain that I missed a ton of great titles. Nonetheless, after the jump, you'll find my 10 favorite films of 2011. I hope you'll take it as the beginning of a conversation, as opposed to the end. And if I chose a film that you didn't, then all the better! I look forward to reading your picks in the comments below.
10. The Guard
It's been almost a year since I first saw The Guard at Sundance, but Brendan Gleeson's hilarious and deadpan performance as a gruff,
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By no means intended as an exhaustive list, Clothes on Film ponder an overview of 2011 in costume. Concentrating on mainstream fare that those outside of big cities are likely to have seen, we consider which costumes delighted, surprised and best of all, enlightened us. Expect to spot Drive, Melancholia and Hugo on this list somewhere.

Costume encompasses every item of clothing worn on film. By strict definition costume is not ‘wardrobe’; wardrobe is what Oprah Winfrey wore on her talk show. While at Clothes on Film we embrace all forms of costume, we do have a slight bias for contemporary, although only because it is often underrepresented in the face of (admittedly dazzling) period or fantasy wear. This roundup will comprise both period and contemporary, but
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Making lists is not my favorite occupation. They inevitably inspire only reader complaints. Not once have I ever heard from a reader that my list was just fine, and they liked it. Yet an annual Best Ten list is apparently a statutory obligation for movie critics.

My best guess is that between six and ten of these movies won't be familiar. Those are the most useful titles for you, instead of an ordering of movies you already know all about.

One recent year I committed the outrage of listing 20 movies in alphabetical order. What an uproar! Here are my top 20 films, in order of approximate preference.

1. "A Separation"

This Iranian film won't open in Chicago until Jan. 27. It won the Golden Bear at Berlin and was just named the year's best foreign film by the New York Film Critics Circle. It is specifically Iranian, but I believe the more specific
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Announcing its Top 10 favourite films of the year, subscription service LOVEFiLM said the tale of a 12-year-old orphan who lives alone in a Paris railway station "rekindles the innocence and wonder of childhood in a delightful film, full of comedy, imagination and heart."

Hugo star Asa Butterfield has been cast as lead character Ender Wiggin, a gifted and genius young boy who begins training at a military academy in a bid to take down an alien race, and Ford has been tapped to play the school's student recruiter, Colonel Hyrum Graff, Contactmusic reported.

Hugo star Asa Butterfield has been cast as lead character Ender Wiggin, a gifted and genius young boy who begins training at a military academy in a bid to take down an alien race, and now action star Ford has been tapped to play the school's student recruiter, Colonel Hyrum Graff.

Scorsese has unmistakably made a children’s movie. Some may argue not as it is crammed full of references to early moving pictures that only adults could probably recognise. Yet Scorsese’s purpose, like that of his hero Méliès, is to entertain and inform. For all the po-faced wittering by cinema scholars that Hugo is meant for them, one has to wonder if deep down Scorsese really cares if any adults see the film at all.

The blue of the Station Inspector's uniform is deliberately intensified.
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Earlier this week, we brought you the news when Canadian actor Brendan Meyer (Mr. Young, This Means War) joined the cast of the long-awaited big screen adaptation of Orson Scott Card‘s Hugo and Nebula Award-winning sci-fi novel Ender’s Game, as Stilson, Ender’s classmate who taunts him during ground school.

Now, Variety reports that Harrison Ford (Cowboys & Aliens) and Abigail Breslin (New Year’s Eve) have officially joined the cast of the Gavin Hood directed adaptation. Ford is set to portray Colonel Hyram Graff, who oversees the military facility where gifted youngsters are trained to prevent an imminent alien attack, and Breslin will portray Valentine Wiggin, the older sister to Ender (Asa Butterfield).

About Ender’s Game:

Set in Earth’s future, the novel presents an imperiled humankind who have barely survived two conflicts with the Formics (an insectoid alien race also known as the “Buggers”). In preparation for an anticipated third invasion,
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Earlier this month, Harrison Ford was targeted for the adaptation of Ender's Game, based on the 1985 novel by Orson Scott Card. Coming from the sci-fi/Western mash-up of Cowboys and Aliens, it would seem that Ford would want to stay away from yet another sci-fi movie, as the actor's resume likes to switch genres from project to project. But with Ford being cast in the Jackie Robinson biopic 42, Ender's Game seemed like a good possibility, and finally it's official.

THR reports that Ford has signed on to play Colonel Hyrum Graff, Commander of Training for the International Fleet. In Ender's Game, humanity has been decimated by an insect-like alien race, with the government enlisting gifted children into battle school to train them to aid in the fight against the invaders. Bullied Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield, Hugo) masters a zero-gravity, laser-tag game and Graff sees his potential for saving humanity. Abigail Breslin
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The sci-fi novel "Ender's Game" is mostly about a young boy, and the movie adaptation scheduled for 2013 will be as well. But the film has landed a pretty big grown-up star to play opposite the young lead.

Harrison Ford has signed on to play Col. Hyrum Graff in "Ender's Game," Variety reports. The character is the commander of an elite battle school that trains kids to fight an interstellar enemy, and he quickly recognizes the special gifts the title character (Asa Butterfield of "Hugo") possesses.

When word came earlier this month that rising young star Hailee Steinfeld would be joining Asa Butterfield for the upcoming sci-fi film Ender’s Game, there were also rumours that none other than Harrison Ford was talks for a leading role.

It now looks like those rumours were well-informed, with Variety reporting that both Harrison Ford and Abigail Breslin are joining Butterfield and Steinfeld as leads in the film.

“Set in Earth’s utopian future, “Ender’s Game” stars Asa Butterfield (“Hugo”) as a genius strategist recruited by the government to help destroy an insect-like alien race.”

And with the additional casting news comes information on the roles that Ford, Breslin, and Steinfeld are taking:

“Ford will play Colonel Hyram Graff, who’s in charge of training young military recruits. Breslin will play Valentine Wiggin, Ender’s older sister, while Steinfeld plays Petra Arkanian, Ender’s trusted right hand.”

The story is based Orson Scott Card's best-selling novel about a boy who develops military plans of attack through war games in an attempt to prepare for an intergalactic battle against insectoid aliens.

It was previously reported that Ford was in talks to play Colonel Hyrum Graff, the commander of training at an elite boys' military academy. Now he's confirmed to have signed on.

Breslin will play the older sister of the hero, Andrew 'Ender' Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a bullied young boy who turns out to be a master strategist.

Hailee Steinfield ("True Grit") is already set to play Ender's trusted right hand Petra Arkanian while Sir Ben Kingsley is reportedly in talks for another role. Shooting kicks off in February.
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The story is based Orson Scott Card's best-selling novel about a boy who develops military plans of attack through war games in an attempt to prepare for an intergalactic battle against insectoid aliens.

It was previously reported that Ford was in talks to play Colonel Hyrum Graff, the commander of training at an elite boys' military academy. Now he's confirmed to have signed on.

Breslin will play the older sister of the hero, Andrew 'Ender' Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a bullied young boy who turns out to be a master strategist.

Hailee Steinfield ("True Grit") is already set to play Ender's trusted right hand Petra Arkanian while Sir Ben Kingsley is reportedly in talks for another role. Shooting kicks off in February.
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